"Maysfield, you traitor!"
The enormous reindeer before him was clearly a Zoan-type Devil Fruit user. As it shifted from beast form back to human, a tall, blond man with a scar running across his forehead appeared before Arik. The instant he returned to human form, he drew the broad sword from his back and leveled it at Arik, roaring in fury.
Over the past month, the man posing as Maysfield had led the royal army to intercept and annihilate over a dozen rebel supply convoys, slaying more than a thousand rebels and inflicting devastating losses on their forces.
Naturally, his name had spread throughout the rebel ranks and it didn't take long for them to dig into his background.
When they did, they discovered that Maysfield's family had once been a noble house aligned with Gilbert, the lord of the Vilia port.
That was all the proof they needed to brand Arik as a traitor.
"Hmph! A traitor?" Arik sneered coldly, slipping effortlessly into the persona of the bitter noble he was impersonating. "Philip, maybe you should think before you speak. Who betrayed whom first, huh? I begged Gilbert like a dog to spare my father, but he wouldn't even grant me an audience. He had his men drive me out and then he used my father as a scapegoat. That debt… I'll never forget it."
To play his role perfectly, Arik had thoroughly studied Maysfield's history, his social circle, connections, and every detail of his past. He knew all the major nobles of Vilia Port by name.
The blond man before him was one of them: Philip Rodriguez, a knight noble.
Once, Philip and the real Maysfield had a grudge over a beautiful noblewoman. Their rivalry had ended in a duel, one that Maysfield, weak and untalented, had lost miserably. Philip, already a rising officer in the Blizzard Legion, had broken both his opponent's legs, leaving him bedridden for months.
From intelligence Arik received through Shuma, he knew that Philip was now a captain in the Blizzard Legion, commanding a thousand men. His Devil Fruit was the Bull-Bull Fruit, Model: Reindeer, granting him the ability to transform into a reindeer hybrid.
By using this ability, Philip had tamed several herds of wild reindeer just as Dars had once tamed wolf packs and turned them into a Reindeer Cavalry Unit, one of the Blizzard Legion's elite forces.
"Looks like you've forgotten how I broke your legs back then," Philip said with a mocking grin. "Just because you picked up a few sword tricks at sea doesn't mean you're someone special. You're still the same weakling you've always been!"
Though he'd heard rumors of Maysfield's terrifying prowess on the battlefield, Philip didn't take them seriously. He was a rare Devil Fruit user, after all and he had once crushed Maysfield easily. To him, this "traitor" was nothing but an arrogant upstart.
The rebels had investigated Maysfield thoroughly: two months earlier, he'd gone to sea alone and vanished, rumored to have perished in a shipwreck. Then, a month ago, he suddenly reappeared at Lord Port, a changed man stronger, faster, and wielding deadly swordsmanship. Clearly, he had stumbled upon some miraculous opportunity at sea.
Without warning, Philip lunged forward half-man, half-beast as he transformed into his hybrid reindeer form. With a burst of speed, he closed the distance and swung his massive blade at Arik's throat.
On the battlefield, there was no such thing as honor or fairness. To strike first was to survive.
Only the victor decides what justice means.
A sharp clang! rang out.
To Philip's disbelief, his powerful strike was stopped cold, his broadsword locked against Arik's rapier, which had caught the blow with unyielding precision.
"That's it?" Arik said with a tone of disappointment. "Looks like that Devil Fruit was wasted on you."
Through Observation Haki, Arik could clearly gauge Philip's aura. He was indeed , strongstronger than Douglas, the 20-million-Berry pirate Aaron had once slain. In his hybrid form, Philip's physical strength exceeded 30 points.
Impressive by ordinary standards but still far too weak for Arik.
While his own physical attributes were slightly below Aaron's, all three strength, agility, and endurance had reached an even 30 points after countless real battles. Through brutal experience and constant duels against elite soldiers, he had continuously forced his body to evolve.
Unless his opponent knew Haki, such strength was meaningless to him. Even if they outnumbered him seven or eight to one, he could handle them, he'd done it many times already.
Over the past month, as his reputation in the royal army grew, Arik had constantly faced overwhelming odds ambushes, assassins, elite squads. Each time, Observation Haki had saved him, and his Armament Haki had shielded him from mortal blows.
Each near-death experience had pushed him further, sharpening his Haki and strengthening his clone body.
Kuja Body Refinement Technique: Strength Amplification!
In an instant, Arik's strength surged to 42 points. He met Philip's next swing head-on and drove him back with a single powerful slash, before thrusting his rapier forward.
"Ittō-ryū: Piercing Sword Aura!"
A razor-thin shockwave of sword energy shot forward like lightning, aimed straight at Philip's skull.
Philip was no pampered noble. A veteran of countless battles, he reacted instinctively, raising his broadsword to block.
Clang!
He caught the strike but the force behind it sent him skidding backward, his arms trembling.
"Impossible… How could a useless coward like you become this strong!?" Philip shouted in disbelief, his eyes wide.
But before he could steady himself, Arik was gone.
He spun around at the sound of footsteps
and saw Arik calmly walking away, sliding his rapier back into its sheath, the polished blade reflecting his emotionless eyes.
"Bastard! Die!!"
Humiliated beyond reason, Philip roared, transforming fully into his reindeer form once more. He charged, antlers lowered, aiming to impale Arik through the back.
Click!
At that precise moment, Arik finished sheathing his sword.
A brilliant white flash burst from Philip's chest. The unleashed sword aura tore through him, sending his massive body flying backward.
When he hit the ground, he had already reverted to human form blood gushing from a deep wound across his chest.
"Nose Song Santin: Swallowtail Slash!"
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